I thought this was going to be an easy explore, but it turned out much more arduous than expected. The hundred degree weather didn't help either, but it was all worth it.
1. My adventure begins by the river side. Sixty years ago, this was all underwater. Then a storm came and breached the damn leaving the canal and its mill without water. Everyone in town was at the river today. No one seemed to notice that a single gate in the bulkhead was open.
2. The power canal beyond the bulkhead was overgrown beyond belief, but once I'd made it through the poison ivy, I was met with a series of penstocks. Their gates were rotted to pieces, but undisturbed.
3. There would have been a pressure case and a set of turbines here, but it was scrapped long ago. Its eight foot diameter made a perfect refuge from the heat.
4. Moving back down the line, I finally found what I was looking for. Now this has been a bit of a fantasy of mine all summer; entering a 19th century turbine pressure case through the penstock and here I was doing just that. I also took a moment to reflect on the shear horror someone would have felt if they'd gotten sucked down here back when it was underwater.
5. If I'm not mistaken, those aren't the actual turbine blades. What you're looking at is a pair of cylinder gates. They could be used to adjust and direct the flow of water through the turbines; mostly likely Holyoke Hercules.
6. Here's the pressure case from the outside. I had to climb up a board through a hole cut in the top of the penstock to get out and let me tell you, that metal was hot enough to fry an egg on. Someone's scrapped the regulator and quarter turns, leaving the heaviest components behind.
7. Fly wheel. The mill burned down decades ago leaving the wheelhouse in ruins. Its unclear why they didn't bulldoze it with the rest of the mill. I'm glad they didn't.
8. Second story windows.
9. Tailrace tunnels. Had to do quite the balancing act on an I-beam to get these.
10. The old canal was filled with turtles and sunfish. I'd never seen so many in one place. Seems like they are pretty safe from predators down there.
11. The only other survivor at this site is the old engine house. Now I don't know how I talk myself into this stuff, but I was certain there would be a steam engine left inside. There wasn't.
12.
13. I forgot my flashlight, which is something I do a lot and I'm afraid this dark tunnel will have to remain a mystery. I'm over due for getting eaten by a monster. You think there was one down there?
14. Well maybe there weren't any steam engines, so how about an internal combustion one?
15. Or two? Maybe even three?
16. This room was quite an enigma. A ladder climbed up to what was little more than a window on the far side and the floor slopped down to a door at the back. Maybe a coal bin? Who knows.
Once I'd fought my way back through the autumn olives, over the rubble and back out the penstock, I lay on the ground in front of the bulkheads soaking wet and in the early stages of heat exhaustion. Some of the swimmers came over to look at me, just a glance and then they hit the water. What an awesome trip!
Thanks
order your copy of Access All Areas today!
